Improvement in sleds



B. M. WILKERSON.

Sled.

No. 205,162. .Patented'lune18,1878.

WrrNnssns, mvnN'ron,

N.PErERS, PHoTo-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

BASIL M. VVILKERSON,` OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN SLEDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 205,162, dated June 18, 1878; application filed l January 18, 1878.

To all whom it ma/y concern:

Be it known that I, BAsIL M. WILKERsoN,

of Baltimore city, State of Maryland, havein embodying my presentinvention; Figs. 2 and 3, plan viewsof the steering apparatus; Fig. 4, a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the sled, and Fig. 5 a similar view of a modification of the same.

As coasting is at present practiced in our northern cities upon sleds accommodating, in many cases, twelve or fteen persons, and descending the hills with a velocity of, say, twenty-five miles per hour, itis a sport attended `with considerable danger, as is shown by the numerous accidents attending it, resulting sometimes even in loss of life.

My present invention is designed to lessen this danger; and consists in providing the sled with certain means for readily and quickly checking its speed, and for lessening the effects of collisions when they are unavoidable.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the sled, to the runners a of which a pair of levers, D, are pivoted. These levers terminate at one end in handles d, which rise in front of the seat, and at the other in blades inclined to the longitudinal axis of the sled. These blades are nominally held away from the surface of the snow or ice by the preponderating weight of the handle end of the lever, a suitable stop being provided for the same to rest upon.

It is evident that upon one of the handles being raised the rudder engages with the snow-and guides the sled to the right or left, as the case may be. Upon applying both rudders simultaneously, they operate as abrake, and serve in all ordinary instances to check the speed of the sled with sufficient rapidity.

The brake proper consists of a double V- shaped casting, B, which is pivoted to the body of the sled bymeans of a pair of arms, b, which are somewhat longer than the width of. the runners c, so that when the brake is allowed to fall,as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, the sled rises upon the brake, the runners being carried clear of the ice.

To the forward end of the brake a rope, C, is attached, which passes through a slot, c', in the front end of the seat, the said slot being covered by staple, e, somewhat larger than t-he slot.

A knot, c, is tied in the rope, which, engaging with the slot, serves to hold the brake normally close under the sled-seat. In order toapply the brake, the rope is jerked forward, when the knot c passes through the staple c and the brake falls by its own weight. A second knot, c, too large pass through the staple, prevents the passage of the brake too far.

The bumper f consists of a curved bar of spring-steel, which is firmly bolted to the ends of the runners, as shown. The shape of the bumper, aswell as its resiliency, tends to cause the sled to glance from anv obstacle, unless struck fairly, in which latter case even the liability to disastrous results is materially lessened.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated certain modifications of my invention, the rudders being in this case transferred to the forward end of the sled, and a simple iron-shod board being substituted for the double V-shaped brake hereinbefore described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with the sled A, the double V-shaped brake B, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the sled-body having slot c', the brake B and rope C, provided with stops c c, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a sled, a curved resilient bumper, substantially as described.

4. In combination with the sled A, the curved spring bar f, substantially as described.

BASIL M. WILKERSON.

Witnesses R. D. WILLIAMS, DAvLD G. WEEMs. 

